


Snowy Nighttime Meetings

by i_am_not_a_bird



Series: The Longest Night fics [2]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Leafpool Lives, Angst and Fluff, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not Bramblestar Friendly, Post-Squirrelflight's Hope, Tracking Lessons, sorry - Freeform, the longest night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28304271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_not_a_bird/pseuds/i_am_not_a_bird
Summary: A Christmas fic. Over the course of their secret nighttime meetings, Nightcloud has started to feel like Squirrelflight is the only cat in the Clans who understands her.
Relationships: Nightcloud/Squirrelflight (Warriors), background Bramblestar/Squirrelflight (Warriors)
Series: The Longest Night fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073069
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Snowy Nighttime Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is late! at least it's still the holiday season?
> 
> this is a bit of a rarepair, I know, but I love these two and I’ve been meaning to write something for them. originally leafpool was going to be dead in this, but that was too angsty for a holiday fic, so let’s just pretend she decided to come back from starclan with squirrelflight or something? it’s not too important for the fic

It was a still, silent night. The snow, which had been drizzling lightly since around sun high, had finally let up, though the storm clouds still lingered persistently in the night sky, covering the thick crescent moon with their shadow. Three nights from now, the moon would be halfway full, and the medicine cats would have their half-moon meeting at the Moonpool; tonight, however, there was no one to see Nightcloud as she stalked along the glen, her stark black coat nearly obscured in shadows. She silently thanked StarClan for keeping the snow from sticking to the ground. Nightcloud wouldn't have a prayer of traveling without being noticed if her pelt stuck out against the snow.

The she-cat raised her head, sifting through the scents on the breeze. The wind direction was in her favor tonight. She could catch a whiff of Squirrelflgiht's ThunderClan scent, an earthy, musky smell, with hints of Bramblestar's brackishness and Leafpool's aromatic, herbal smell, plus a woody undertone that was Squirrelflight's and Squirrelflgiths' alone. Nightcloud liked the smell of her friend. She liked that she could catch it from a distance and distiniuish it from the other ThunderClan scents, and she liked that over time she had learned how to tell whether Squirrelflight had come straight from patrolling or if she had been spending time with her friends in the main camp, leader's den, or medicine den.

Sometimes she wondered what Squirrelflight thought of _her_ scent.

Nightcloud swished her tail as she climbed up the path to the stream. In the dark, it was difficult to see the path in front of her, but she could spot the silhouettes of ThunderClan's trees getting larger as she approached. She caught Squirrleflight's eyes across the stream-- two glittering emeralds in the dark-- before she saw her shape. Nightcloud almost couldn't help from smiling as she bounded up and leapt across the stream.

"I've been practicing what you taught me," Nightcloud announced.

"Really?" Squirrelflight looked almost alarmed. "It's not a good night for tracking, Nightcloud. The breeze is way too light."

"You don't have to baby me, Squirrelflight," she snapped, although she was really only teasing. (She adored how Squirrelflight could always tell when she was serious and when she was teasing.) "We both know you could have caught my scent if the wind was blowing in the other direction."

"That's because ThunderClan's whole _thing_ is tracking prey through the undergrowth," Squirrelflight complained. "You're a WindClan cat. You don't need any of that. On a good day you can practically see across the whole moor. You're more into the _sneak up and then run like crazy_ method."

Nightcloud stifled a purr. "Well, I guess I've just gotten that good, then." She pressed her forehead against Squirrelflight's in a formal greeting, before pulling back and smiling teasingly at her. "You've been spending time with Leafpool this evening."

"You cheater!" Squirrelflight said, some of the weariness in her shoulders lifting as she grinned up at her friend. "There's no sport in it if you have to get up close to smell! Tracking is all about catching and sorting through scents from a _distance_ , Nightcloud."

"How do you know that was about tracking?" Nightcloud asked. "Maybe I just like how you smell."

"Mhm-mm," Squirrelflight said dismissively, though she was smiling brightly at her. "I don't buy it. The Nightcloud I know wouldn't be that sappy."

It was a challenge if Nightcloud had ever heard, and Nightcloud loved challenges. She sidled up to Squirrelflight, pressing up against her side and burying her head in the fluffy fur on the back of her friend's neck. Nightcloud twined their tails together, conjuring up her best happy purr. It wasn't that hard to act overly sentimental.

"Stubborn fox-heart," Squirrelflight snorted with amusement, her tail twitching against Nightcloud's. "Okay, fine, you can totally be sappy. You've proven me wrong." But she didn't pull away; she was smiling in the corner of Nightcloud's vision, something soft and a little too tender in her eyes.

"Sentimental mouse-brain," Nightcloud teased. "Did you forget I'm a mother like you are? I had to be all sappy and soft when I was taking care of Breezepelt."

"Oh, you only never stop talking about him," she said. "I'm glad you could save some of your sappiness for me."

Nightcloud purred for real. She wanted to pull away from Squirrelflight's embrace but she was oddly reluctant to. Maybe she was worried it would be cold, or something. "How are things in ThunderClan, anyway?" she asked.

"Same old, same old," Squirrelflight said, rolling her eyes. "Bramblestar's over himself with apologies for the whole Sisters thing. Nothing about how he didn't listen to me or care how I felt during that debacle, of course; the only thing he's sorry about is that I felt bad. Whenever he brings it up, it's clear that he still believes he was one hundred percent in the right." She sighed. "But tomorrow's the longest night, so he'll have to get over himself and start acting like he's my family again by then."

"He shouldn't be acting like that around the longest night," Nightcloud said firmly, almost surprised for a moment at the conviction in her words. "The holiday is about family togetherness and hope for the future. It's about choosing who you want to spend the tough leaf-bare moons with. Not about petty squabbles. Those should be left behind."

Squirrelflight's voice sounded small and tired when she spoke. "Have you ever had anyone to spend the longest night with?" she asked.

Nightcloud was so startled she took a step back. "Well, Breezepelt, of course."

"But before that," Squirrelflight pressed. "You don't have any family? Crowfeather wouldn't spend it with you?"

"Of course he would," Nightcloud said. "He was a parent like me, Squirrelflight. He celebrated when Breezepelt was young. Stop distracting me; we were talking about your thing. Maybe you should speak with Bramblestar--"

"But Crowfeather never celebrated for _you_ ," Squirrelflight continued, ignoring Nightcloud's attempt at a redirection. There was an oddly determined light to her eyes that Nightcloud was not particularly enthused about. "No one's ever celebrated just for you? Not since you were a kit?"

"Squirrelflight..." she started, trailing off.

"If I got to chose who I want to spend the tough leaf-bare moons with, it would be you, Nightcloud," Squirrelflight pushed on. "And I'm pretty sure you would say the same thing about me. So why are we sitting around celebrating with our boring Clans?" She was beaming now, looking up at Nightcloud like she was the only other cat in the world. "I want to spend tomorrow with you."

Nightcloud blinked. Her throat felt dry. Squirrelflight couldn't possibly know why that was a terrible idea. Spending the longest night with a ThunderClan cat, and one she was already halfway in love with? One who had a mate waiting for her back in ThunderClan? But she couldn't explain any of that to Squirrelflight. And, as annoying as it was, she really didn’t want to have to tell her no.

Nightcloud swallowed, considered, and finally said, "Alright. I don't think my Clan will miss me tomorrow night. I haven't decorated or set out gifts for the kits since Breezepelt was young, so it won't be suspicious if I just slip off during the festivities and say I'm hunting. How about you?"

"I'll just say I want some time apart," Squirrelflight said with a purr. "As long as I'm back before they finish getting things set up, Bramblestar shouldn't suspect anything. And if he does think I’m up to something, he definitely won't suspect I ran off with a WindClan cat," she added, grinning. "Let's meet up at the island just before sunset, okay?"

"Okay," Nightcloud said, trying to ignore the way her heart had started to hammer. "That will work with me."

* * *

WindClan had already begun decorating when Nightcloud slipped away to "hunt". The kits were clustered around the elder's den listening to stories about longest nights of the past; Whiskernose was in the middle of a lengthy tale about how the founders had celebrated the leaf-bare holiday together back in the early days of the Clans, and the kits were enthralled. With the little ones distracted, the warriors and queens were secretly planning ways to surprise them with special gifts in the morning. Nightcloud gave a curt nod to Breezepelt and Crowfeather as she left, excited to meet up with her friend.

The dusk air was chilly. Last night’s stormclouds had returned, and it was snowing for real now, probably enough to pile up. It would be a harder journey home across the snowy moor, but she couldn’t flake on Squirrelflight now. Not when the ginger she-cat had gotten so excited about this.

Nightcloud wasn’t entirely sure when Squirrelflight of all cats had joined the ranks of the cats she would do anything for, but it was absurdly frustrating. Up until now, that list had been exclusively Breezepelt.

It was a tricky walk across the fallen log to the island since the ice was building up, especially when she was lugging a rabbit carcass she had caught earlier as a present. Nightcloud had to pay very close attention to her paws so she wouldn’t slip. But it was worth it when she finally reached the island. Already, the place was decorated with plants from the island itself and the surrounding marshes, woven into the bushes like they were works of art. It wasn’t the traditional holly decorations the Clans liked to do, and it had clearly been done on extremely short notice, but Nightcloud found it beautiful all the same. She smiled to herself as she walked to the clearing.

Squirrelflight was already there waiting for her. She jolted up when she saw Nightcloud, standing and bounding across the clearing towards her. “Oh, I thought you were never coming! It’s already almost past sunset, Nightcloud. I’ve been so bored waiting for you!”

”Couldn’t you smell me coming?” Nightcloud teased, dropping the rabbit at her paws.

”The wind’s not in my favor,” Squirrelflight said defensively. She sidled up and buried her face in Nightcloud’s chest, starting to purr as loud as a Twoleg monster. “Seriously, though. I got all worried.”

”Sorry,” Nightcloud said, and she meant it. “I underestimated how long the walk would be in this snow. But I’m here now. And I have a gift for you. Happy longest night, Squirrelflight,” she said, nodding down at the rabbit.

Squirrelflight looked down at the rabbit and smiled. “I brought you some prey, too. A mouse, from ThunderClan. Leafpool let me take a bit of her honey, so it’s kind of a really big mess right now, but I wanted to do something special and I couldn’t think of anything else.”

Nightcloud couldn’t help but purr in amusement. “You took some of the medicine cat’s honey to make my gift more special?”

”Well, when you put it like _that_ , it does sound a bit frivolous,” Squirrelflight said, amused. “I’m sure it probably still tastes okay, at least? I can catch another one if it’s horrendous.”

”I don’t really care how it tastes,” Nightcloud admitted. “I’m just glad you’re here. And glad I get to spend leaf-bare with you.”

Squirrelflight nudged Nightcloud’s shoulder, something soft and tender in her eyes. “So you _can_ be sappy all on your own! You learn something new every day, huh?”

”Squirrelflight,” Nightcloud said warningly, although the purr in her her voice was probably ruining the effect.

“Oh, alright,” Squirrelflight said. “You’re nice and warm and I love you too, Nightcloud.”

Nightcloud hadn’t said _I love you_ the first time, but Squirrelflight seemed to understand that was what she meant, anyway. She purred, feeling like her chest might burst if she got any happier. So this was why everyone made such a fuss over the holiday— family and hope and warmth and all that stuff Nightcloud had tried to distance herself from after she couldn’t work things out with Crowfeather. It was nice, having someone with her tonight, even if hearing all these sentimental things from Squirrelflight was making Nightcloud’s heart hammer rather annoyingly.

When Nightcloud leaned closer, she was pretty sure she could hear Squirrelflight’s heart fluttering a little too quickly, too.


End file.
